Elevator



E. L. RICK ELEVATOR Oct. 25, 19270 Filed June 9, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 25, 1927.v 1,646,981'

E. L; RICK ELEVATOR Filed June 9, 192 4 s Sheeis-Sheec 2 wt I W Oct. 25, 1927. E. L. RICK Filed June 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 1 STATES Patente 1,646,981 PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD L. RICK, OF LOS AN GELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOB, TO DUNN MANUFACTUR- ING COMPANY, OF OXNARD, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATIQN OE CALIFORNIA.

ELEVATOR.

This invention relates to elevators of the type employed in supporting, raising and lowering of oil well casing or tubing, and an object of the invention, in general, is to provide a construction that will insure against dropping a string of casing or tubing supported by the elevator.

Dropping of strings of easing or tubing, because of imperfection in elevators, is of quite frequent occurrence, and it will be readily understood that, when the casing or tubing becomes detached from the elevator and drops to the bottom of the well, an-eX- pensive fishing job is required to recover the casing or tubing. It is to avoid'this that my invention is made.

Another object is to construct the elevator so that the weight of the casing or tubing, supported by the elevator, will tend to hold the elevator gate closed.

Another object is to provide a construction in which the elevator gate must rise relative, to the elevator body at the same time that the gate is swung into open position, in

order that the gate can be opened.

Another object is to provide, when deemed advisable,an eflicient latch for still further insuring against swinging open of the gate.

As distinguishing from my prior invention, disclosed in application filed June 13, 1923, Serial. No. 645,080,.other objects of this invention are to improve the latch, to effect clamping of the pipe automatically when the elevator engages the rotary table, to effect automatic retraction of the means for retaining the elevator suspension means, and to make such retaining means a portion of the means for effccting'releaseof the clamp ing means.

A further object is to provide, in conjunction with the latch release means, means for forcing the jaws apart.

Other objects and advantages will appear hereinafter. I I

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention:

Figure 1 is a plan view of an elevator constructed in accordance with the provisions of this invention, the gate being closed.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of Fig. 2 from the left thereof.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the clamping mechanism and the means for effecting operation of the clamping mechanism, the parts Application filed June 9, 1924:. Serial No. 718,796.

being in position to effect the clamping act1on.-

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of Fig. 4, with the parts in the released positions.

Fig. 6 is a fragmental sectionalplan view on the line indicated by 6-6,'Fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is a fragmental sectional plan view on the line indicated by 7-7, Fig. 2.

Fig. 8is an enlarged sectional elevation on the line indicated by 8-8, Fig. 1.

Fig. 9 is a fragmental sectional elevation on the line indicated by 99, Fig. 1.

Fig. 10 is a'perspective view of one of the elements of the clamping means.

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the other two elements of the clamping means, one of said elements being shown in section and said elements being held assembled; by a screw.

F igl 12 is a perspective View of the means for effecting latching, releasing the latch means and for forcing the jaws apart.

Fig. 13 is a fragmental elevation of the hinge portions of the body and gate, showing the gate in open position.

There is provided a body 15 having a recess 16 to accommodate a portion of the easing, pipe or tubing that is to be supported by the elevator, the wall of said recess being semicircular for substantially 180 of circu The body 15 is provided at its opposite I ends with supports 19 in the form of laterally extending lugs, the under faces of which are provided with notches 20 for engagement by the grapple of the hoisting apparatus used for raising and lowering the elevator, as is well understood in this art.

Hinged to the body 15 is a gate 21, the hinge comprising an intermediate hinge member 22 on the gate 21 and upper and lower hinge members 28,24: on the body 15, a suitable pin 25 pivotally connecting the hinge member 22 to the hinge members 23, 24. The opening 26 between the hinge members 23, 24: for accommodation of the hinge member 22, is of greater length than the hinge member 22, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and. 13 of the drawings, so as to permit the gate to rise relative to the body for a purpose to be explained hereinafter.

The foregoing will make clear that the improved elevator includes two relatively movable members or jaws, one of which is,

in this instance, termed the body 15 and the other thegate 21. The gate 21 is provided with a recess 27 that is somewhat less than a semicircle so as to partly accommodate the tubing held by the elevator in order that,

vator will tend to prevent opening of the gate and consequent dropping of the tubing.

This ma be effected by difi'erent constructions an one is as follows.

One end of the gate 21 interlocks with the body-15 by reason of the provision of interlocking portions 28, 29 and 30, 31, the portions 28, 30 being on the-gate and the portions 29, 31 on the body.. Interlocking portions are complementarily beveled, the upper faces a of the portions 29, 31 and the lower faces 6 of the portions 28, 30 extending aslant downwardly in the direction of closing of the gate so that, when the gate is closed as in Fig. 4, it is necessary in opening for it to rise as it swings outwardly on its hinge.

The path of movement of the gate is circular and the faces slant downwardly along a curved path, the center of the radius of curvature of said path being the axis of the hinge. This construction enables the gate to swing open without the necessity'of first lifting the gate to disengage the interlocking portions. In fact, the interlocking portions constitute cam faces that; when the gate is pulled open, contribute to lifting of the gate.

' Elevators of this" description are comparatively cumbersome and quite heavy,

1 and, therefore, while" not absolutely essential, it is desirable to provide means operable by opening movement of the gate to raise the same at the hinge so that the hinge one of the hinge members for one of the other hinge members to ride against so as to effect a lifting movement of the gate-as it opens, in this particular instance the cam memberswill not bind upon.the'hinge pin and so' that the interlocking portions 28, 29, 30, 31 will freely disen age to allow the gateto be opened. To efl ect this result, I provide, in this instance, a cam face 32 ,on

' face being rovidedat the upper end of the 1v hinge mem er 24-so that the lower end of the intermediate hingemember 22 will ride upwardly on the camjface in the opening movement of the gate and downwardly on said cam face in the closing movement of said gate. 1

The upper end of the hinge member 24 is notched at 33 adjacent to the cam face 32 to permit a downwardly projecting portion 34 of the hinge member 22 to seat in said recess when the gate is closed. It has heretofore been pointed out that the length of the space 26 is greater than the length of the hinge member 22. The difference in length is slightly greater thanthe height of the cam face 32 so that, when the gate is closed, the intermediate and upper hinge members will be spaced as in Figure 2, and, when w for, in operation, the elevator will be placed about the casing or tubing to be handled and the gate will beswung into closed position to interlock the portions 28, 29, 30. and 31. Then the grappling device, not shown, will be engaged with the notches 20 and the elevator raised into engagement with thecollar I or coupling-on the casing or tubing, thus bringing the Weight of the tubing to bear upon the upper face of the body 19 and gate .21. Since theslant of the beveled faces a, 1) of the interlocking portions 28, 29, 30

and 31 is downwardly toward the direction of closing of the gate, the weight of the casing imposed .on the gate will naturally tend 1 to hold the gate closed.

The construction so far described has its counterpart in the prior application. mentioned above and oneimportant difference is that in the present construction the pivot pin 25 is set aslant, the upper end of Said pin being nearer to the axis of the recess 16 than is the lower end of said pin so that the gate will tend to swing shut by gravity. Other differences that mark the present construction" will now be described.

A very important advantage that this elevator has over those of prior construction is the impossibility of using it to lift pipe when the gate-is open.. If the attempt be made to raise the elevator with the pipe therein and the gate not tightly closed, the coupling on the pipe will naturally seat first upon the upper face of the gate, since the unclosed gate projects above the level of the body. The Weight thus coming upon the gate,will tilt the gate side of the elevator downwardly, thus causing the effect of gravthe gate.

the gate 21 will be held closed by the weight imposed thereon, thus making it possible to use the elevator without means for latching Though a latch is not" a necessity, when the collar of the supported easing or tubing seats only upon the upper face of the body and gate, the provision of the latch will be more especially advisable in event of said upper faces becoming worn adjacent the recesses 16, 27 for, when wear at these portions occurs, the collar may slip sufficiently far into said recesses 16, 27 to produce an outward thrust against the inner walls of the body and gate and this thrust may become sufficiently great to force the gate open against the imposed pressure of the tubing tending to resist the upward shifting of the gate necessary to openingthereof. In fact, the casing or tubing may be canted suffici'ently out of axial alinement with the elevator to entirely free the upper face of the gate from the collar of the tubing, and the canting would tend to pry open the gate in such event. The latch would then prevent this. Moreover, since some users of the elevator may prefer to have it equipped with latching means for the gate, 1 have de vised a latching means constructed as follows:

The gate 21 is provided at the end opposite to the hinge pin with a laterally projecting lug 35,below the upperface of the gate. VVhen' the gate 21 is closed, the lug is positioned beneath a latch member 36 which is pivotally mounted at 37 in the body 15. The latch member 36 is yieldingly held in latching position above the lug 35 by a coil spring 38 which is seated in the body 15 and which exerts pressure against a finger 39 of the latch member 36.

Though the latch member 36 may itself be operated manually, ll prefer to effect the operation by a latch-release means which embodies a movably mounted arm 40. In

this particular instance the arm 40 is pivotally mounted at 41 on the gate 21 in position to engage the latch member 36 and force said latch member out of the path of travel of the lug 35 as said lu'g rises in the opening movement of the gate 21. To operate the arm 40, there is connected therewith an operating member 42, having a finger slot 421 through which the fingers of the operators hand may be slipped for a secure hold. The operating member 42 projects substantially at right angles to the gate when the latch member 36 is in closed position so that a pull on the operating member To increase the ease of opening of" the gate 21, I preferably provide the latch member 36 with a laterally projecting gate-engaging member 431, said member being normally positioned inwardly of the free end 7 elevator so that rotation of the elevator may be effected by a rotary table to effect unscrewing of two pipe or tubing sections. The construction that I at present employ for this purpose is as follows:

The inner face of the body 15 is recessed at 43 opposite to the gate 21 and shiftably mounted in said recess is a wedge member 44. The outerface of the wedge member 44 is straight and the portion 45 of the inner face is bevelled downwardly and in wardly. Coil springs 46, of which only one is shown in the drawings, are seated in the body 15 abovethe upper edge of the wedge J member 44'and press downwardly upon said said wedge member so as to tend to hold the same in retracted or depressed position.

The wedge face 45 engages a downwardly and inwardly beveled outer face 47 of an eccentric block 48, the eccentric face 49 of said block being on the inside thereof in a plane substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the body. The eccentric face 49 engages an eccentric outer face 50 on a clamping block 51 which is preferably provided on its inner face with longitudinally extending dies 52 adapted to grip the pipe or tubing.

The eccentric block 48 carries a screw 53, one end of which projects into a vertical slot 54 in the wedge member 44 and the other end intoa slot 55 that extends lengthwise of the clamping block 51, the head of the screw engaging the clamping block to prevent said clamping block from falling away from the eccentric block 48.

Operating means are provided for the wedge member 44 and such operating means are constructed, in this instance, as follows: Near its lower end the opposite edges of the wedge member 44 are provided with shoulders 56 which seat upon the inner ends of oppositely positioned levers 57 pivoted at 58 in the body 15. The levers 57 are irregular in shape and their outer ends project into laterally extending arms 59 of the body 15, said arms being in alinement with the supporting members 19. The top faces of the outer ends of the levers 57 are engaged by the under faces of the inner ends of other that between levers 60 pivotally mounted at 61 in the arms 59. Theouter ends of the levers 60 project beyond the outer ends of the arms 59 and are weighted so as to tend to swing the inner ends of the levers 60 upwardly and outwardly, to thereby permit the inner ends of the levers 57 to swing downwardly to there:

by release-the wedge member 44. It follows that, in order to force the wedge member '44 upwardly, the outer ends of the levers 60 must be swung upwardly and this is automatically effected by seating the elevator body upon a rotary table, the upper face of which is indicated in Fig. 2 by the broken line 62. It will now be clear that the means for actuating the clamping means are engageable by any member upon which the elevator rests to effect clamping of the pipe or tubing in the elevator, and that said means are automatically released when the elevator is raised from such member.

When it is desired to employ the elevator v to break out or disconnect drill pipe sections, the string of pipe is raised by any suitable elevator into the derrick to bring the tool joint connecting two sections above the derrick floor and my elevator, supported in I elevator. links, will be placed on the pipe just beneath the tooLjoint. The wedge member 44 is now in its depressed position and the clamping block 51 will be as far as possible to the right in relation to the eccentric block 48 in Fig. 11. The string of pipe and my elevator will then be lowered until the elevator rests upon the rotary table, and in the course of this lowering the levers 60, engage the upper face of the table and are actuated thereby to force the wedge member 44 upwardly relative to the body 15, thus forcing the eccentric .block 48 toward the pipe.- The operator will then apply tongs to the toolv joint and operate said tongsto fbreak the joint.

The rotary table will now be operated to eil'ect turning of the elevator clockwise, said elevator being engaged by a postorstake mounted in the rotarytable to insure such turning. Assuming that the pipe is not securely clamped by the block 51, the wedge member '44 will be carried around by the elevator body, thus turning the eccentric block 48in the direction of the arrow at in Fig. 11,.the clamping block 51 being,held Stationary by the slight friction between it and the pipe, whereupon-the eccentric faces 49, 50 will effect movement ofthe clamping block 51 toward the ipe until thefriction between the clamping block and pipe exceeds the threads of the parts being unscrewed. When this occurs the pipe section supported by my elevator will rotate with the table and, accordingly, unscrew it from the section above which is still being supported by'the upper elevator.

It Wlll be noted that, when the elevator is 'raised from the rotary table or other support, not shown, the levers 60 swing into the slots 63 that separate the supporting members 19 from the arms 59. Thus said levers 60 function to prevent the elevator links, not shown, from accidentally slipping from the supporting members 19 and drop- 'movable jaws, means operating to hold the jaws closed about a pipe, pipe-clamping means in one of the jaws, means operable by relative turning between the pipe and the clamping means to forcethe clamping means toward the pipe, and means cooperating with the second mentioned means operable by engagement with a support to force the clamping means toward the pipe. I

3. An elevator comprising two relatively movable jaws, means operating to hold the jaws closed about' a pipe, pipe-clamping means in one of the jaws, means operable by relative turning between the pipe and the clamping means to force the clamping means toward the pipe, .and means operable on engagement thereof with a support for theelevator to force the third named means toward the pipe. I

.4. An elevator comprising two "relatively movable jaws means operating to 'hold the jaws closed 'a out a pipe, a clamping block movably'mounted" in one of the jaws, and means engageable with a support for the elevator to wedge the clamping block toward the pipe. p

5. An elevator comprising two relatively movable jaws, means operating tohold the jaws closed about a pipe, pipe-clamping means in one of the jaws, means operable by relative turning between the pipe and the clamping means to force the clamping means toward the pipe, and means'engageable with a support for the elevator to wedge the third named means toward the pipe,

.6. An levator comprising tworelatively movable jaws, means operating to hold the jaws closed about a pipe, a clamping block movably mounted in one of the jaws, means operable by relative turning between the pipe and the clamping block'to wedge the clamping block toward the pipe, and means engageable with a support for the elevator to force the wedgingmeans toward the pipe.

7. An elevator comprising two relatively movable jaws, one of said jaws having slots to receive elevator links, means operating to hold the jaws closed about a pipe, pipeclamping means in one of the jaws, and means normally closing the outer ends of the slots operable on engagement with a support for the elevator to force the clamping means toward the pipe and to open the outer ends of the slots.

8. An elevator comprising two relatively movable jaws, one of said jaws having slots to receive elevator links, means operating to hold the jaws closed about a pipe, means normally closing the outer ends of the slots operable on engagement with a support for the elevator to permit release of the links from said slots, andmeans connected with and operable by the last means to clamp the pipe in the jaws.

9. An elevator comprising two relatively movable jaws, one of said jaws having slots to receive elevator links, means operating to hold the jaws closed about a pipe, means normally closing the outer ends of the slots operable on engagement with a support for the elevator to permit release of the links from said slots, and means connected with and operable by the last means to clamp the pipe in the jaws, the clamping means includ-. ing'mechanism operable by relative turning between the pipe and jaws to increase the pressure of the clamping means on the pipe.

10. An elevator comprising two relatively movable jaws, a latch member pivoted to one of the jaws and adapted to engage the other jaw to prevent separation of said jaws, an arm pivoted to the second jaw and engageable with the latch member when the jaws are closed to retract said latch member, an operating member connected with said arm, and a laterally projecting, member connected with the latch member and operable by retraction of the latch member into position to exert pressure against the second mentioned jaw to separate the jaws.

11. An elevator comprising two relatively movable jaws, a latch member movably mounted on one of the jaws and engageable with the second jaw when operated in one direction to prevent movement thereof and engageable with the second jaw, when operated to retract to thrust the jaws apart, and means on the second jaw engageable 1igvith the latch member to retract said mem- 12. An elevator comprising two relatively movable. jaws, a latch member movably mounted on one of the jaws and engageable with the second jaw when operated in one direction to prevent movement thereof and engageable with the second. jaw when operated to retract to' thrust the jaws apart, and means on the second jaw to pull said jaw open, said means being engageable with the latch member to retract said member.

13. An elevator comprising two relatively end, the gate having a movable jaws, a latch member pivotally v mounted on one of the jaws and engageable Y with the second jaw, means operated by the latch member to force the jaws open, and means on the second jaw'engageable with the latch member to retract said member.

14;. An elevator comprising two relatively movable jaws, a latch member movably mounted on one of the jaws and engageable movable jaws, means tending to hold the jaws closed about a pipe, means movably mounted on one of the jaws to engage the second jaw to force the jaws apart, and means on the second jaw to pull said jaw open, said means being engageable with the last means to operate said means.

17. An elevator comprising two relatively movable jaws having recesses together forming a cylindrical opening when the jaws are closed, means for connecting one of the jaws to a grapple, and a hinge pin connecting the jaws and having its upper end nearer to the axis of the opening than its lower end.

18. An elevator comprising two relatively movable jaws having recesses together forming a cylindrical opening when the jaws are closed, said jaws having interlocking porthe gate having a portion engaging the body on downward shifting of the gate-and disengaging said body on upward shift ng of the gate, and means operating to effect upward shifting of the gate.

20. An elevator comprising a body, a vertically shittable gate, the body and gate having recesses together forming acyllndrlcal opening, a hinge pin connectmg the gate to the body and having its upper end nearer to the axis of the opening than its lower ortion engaging the downward shi ing of the gate and body on body on upward shifting disengaging said of the gate, and means operated by opening movement of the gate to eflfect upward shifting thereof. j I O 21. An elevator'comprising a body, a ver tically shiftable gate hinged to the body, the body and gate having recesses together forming a cylindrical opening, the hinge pin having its upper end nearer to the axis of the opening than its lower end, the gate having a portion engaging the body on downward shifting of the gate and disengaging said body on upward shifting of the gate, and a cam faceon one of the hinge members, another of the hinge members riding up and down on the cam face as the gate is opened and closed.

22. An elevator comprising two relatively movable jaws, interlocking means on the jaws disengaged by upward shifting of one of the jaws relative to the other, and manually operated means on one of the jaws engageable with the other jaw to force the jaws apart.

23. A11 elevator comprising two relatively movable jaws, interlocking means on the jaws disengaged by upward .and outward shifting of one of the jaws relative to the other, releasable means 'to prevent such upward and outward shifting, and means to pry the jaws apart when the last means are released.

24. An elevator comprising two relatively movable jaws, interlocking means on the.

jaws disengaged by upward shifting of one of the jaws relative to the other, releasable means to prevent such upward shifting, and means operated by the last named means to force the jaws apart. m

25.. An elevator comprising two relatively movable jaws, interlocking means on the .jawsdise-ngaged by upward shifting of one of the jaws relative to the other, releasable means to prevent such upward shifting,

means operated by the last named means to force the jaws apart, and movable means on one of the jaws for normally pulling it open when the second named means are released, said movable means being engageable with the second named means to release them.

26. An elevator comprising two relatively movable jaws, interlocking means on the jaws disengaged by upward shifting of one of the jaws relative to the other, releasable means to prevent such upward shifting, and movable means on one of the jaws for manually pulling it open when the second named means are released, said movable means being engageable with the second named means to release them.

first named surfaces when the door is in closed position. I

28.. In a pipe elevator, a body and a door coacting to provide a vertical pipe receiving hinging said door to" said body; said pin being inclined slightly with regard to the vertical axis of'the said space; said body being provided with surfaces inclined from the true horizontal to approximate the helical path through which the door moves, and said door being rovided with complementary inclined sur aces disposed to overlie the first named surfaces when the door is in closed position.

29. In a pipe elevator, a body and a door movable to open and closed positions adapted to coact to encompass a pipe; said door being hinged to said body so as to describe an ascending are as it moves to open position; said body being provided with surfaces inclined from the true horizontal to ,approximate the helical path through which the door moves, and said door being provided with complementary inclined surfaces space having a vertical axis, and a hinge pin disposed to overlie the first named surfaces EDWARD L. RICK. 

